ISIS, the brutal insurgent/terrorist group formerly known as al Qaeda in Iraq, has seized much of western and northern Iraq and even threatens towns not far from Baghdad.

From where did ISIS spring? One of George W. Bush's most toxic legacies is the introduction of al Qaeda into Iraq, which is the ISIS mother ship.

If this wasn't so tragic it would be supremely ironic, because before the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, top Bush officials were insisting that there was an al Qaeda-Iraq axis of evil. Their claims that Saddam Hussein's men were training members of al Qaeda how to make weapons of mass destruction seemed to be one of the most compelling rationales for the impending war.

After the fall of Hussein's regime, no documents were unearthed in Iraq proving the Hussein-al Qaeda axis despite the fact that, like other totalitarian regimes, Hussein's government kept massive and meticulous records.

The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency had by 2006 translated 34 million pages of documents from Hussein's Iraq and found there was nothing to substantiate a "partnership" between Hussein and al Qaeda.

Two years later the Pentagon's own internal think tank, the Institute for Defense Analyses, concluded after examining 600,000 Hussein-era documents and several thousand hours of his regime's audio- and videotapes that there was no "smoking gun (i.e. direct connection between Hussein's Iraq and al Qaeda.)"

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence concluded in 2008, as every other investigation had before, that there was no "cooperative relationship" between Hussein and al Qaeda. The committee also found that "most of the contacts cited between Iraq and al Qaeda before the war by the intelligence community and policy makers have been determined not to have occurred."

Instead of interrupting a budding relationship between Hussein and al Qaeda, the Iraq War precipitated the arrival of al Qaeda into Iraq. Although the Bush administration tended to gloss over the fact, al Qaeda only formally established itself in Iraq a year and a half after the U.S. invasion.http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/13/opinio...html?hpt=hp_t1

ISIS, the brutal insurgent/terrorist group formerly known as al Qaeda in Iraq, has seized much of western and northern Iraq and even threatens towns not far from Baghdad.

From where did ISIS spring? One of George W. Bush's most toxic legacies is the introduction of al Qaeda into Iraq, which is the ISIS mother ship.

If this wasn't so tragic it would be supremely ironic, because before the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, top Bush officials were insisting that there was an al Qaeda-Iraq axis of evil. Their claims that Saddam Hussein's men were training members of al Qaeda how to make weapons of mass destruction seemed to be one of the most compelling rationales for the impending war.

After the fall of Hussein's regime, no documents were unearthed in Iraq proving the Hussein-al Qaeda axis despite the fact that, like other totalitarian regimes, Hussein's government kept massive and meticulous records.

The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency had by 2006 translated 34 million pages of documents from Hussein's Iraq and found there was nothing to substantiate a "partnership" between Hussein and al Qaeda.

Two years later the Pentagon's own internal think tank, the Institute for Defense Analyses, concluded after examining 600,000 Hussein-era documents and several thousand hours of his regime's audio- and videotapes that there was no "smoking gun (i.e. direct connection between Hussein's Iraq and al Qaeda.)"

The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence concluded in 2008, as every other investigation had before, that there was no "cooperative relationship" between Hussein and al Qaeda. The committee also found that "most of the contacts cited between Iraq and al Qaeda before the war by the intelligence community and policy makers have been determined not to have occurred."

Instead of interrupting a budding relationship between Hussein and al Qaeda, the Iraq War precipitated the arrival of al Qaeda into Iraq. Although the Bush administration tended to gloss over the fact, al Qaeda only formally established itself in Iraq a year and a half after the U.S. invasion.http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/13/opinio...html?hpt=hp_t1

So, CNN (Obama's secret girlfriend) is again blaming Bush for the current issues in Iraq while ignoring the fact that the instability in Syria is really the main issue here?

Listen, I'm aware that the invasion of Iraq was stupid and wrong, but people like you want to keep ignoring Obama's poor, or should a say, absolutely tragic, foreign policy. Obama has had what, 5 years? to help resolve the Syrian conflict through diplomacy. Instead, he's cockroached his way around the problem.

I'm not going to let you and your ilk blame Bush for this fiasco. This fiasco rests squarely on BO, the joke who is the president.

did, and only the last paragraph mentions Syria. Again, this problem rests on BO for two simple reasons--his lack of diplomacy in Syria (or whatever he is doing covertly is failing) and his lack of diplomacy in Iraq. Yes, Bush created the Iraq problem but Obama could have ended it much better than he did.

did, and only the last paragraph mentions Syria. Again, this problem rests on BO for two simple reasons--his lack of diplomacy in Syria (or whatever he is doing covertly is failing) and his lack of diplomacy in Iraq. Yes, Bush created the Iraq problem but Obama could have ended it much better than he did.

History is how I know. The idea of America as some kind of global god of crisis management is one we have to thoroughly get rid of. If Vietnam didn't teach us that we can't fix everything we touch I don't know what will. I guess we'll just keep shoving our noses in everybody's business until the end of our brief span on the historical stage. America just can't seem to grasp the idea of blowback.

Do you all not remember why we went to Iraq? Do you not remember the first time when Saddam was shooting scuds at Israel? We got sucked in to protect the holy land. Then they sat back as our boys shed their blood and we pissed away trillions. The second go round they convinced us that Saddam had WMDs. We know how that worked out.

I say this time let ISRAEL handle what's happening in their back yard. Oh I know. Someone will say if "Israel gets involved it will be WWWIII". Hell WWWIII may be breaking out in Eastern Europe anyway.

If you haven't noticed dicators and terrorists are on the move. They know America won't do **** right now.

Do you all not remember why we went to Iraq? Do you not remember the first time when Saddam was shooting scuds at Israel? We got sucked in to protect the holy land. Then they sat back as our boys shed their blood and we pissed away trillions. The second go round they convinced us that Saddam had WMDs. We know how that worked out.

I say this time let ISRAEL handle what's happening in their back yard. Oh I know. Someone will say if "Israel gets involved it will be WWWIII". Hell WWWIII may be breaking out in Eastern Europe anyway.

If you haven't noticed dicators and terrorists are on the move. They know America won't do **** right now.

Now obama is kissing ass to Iran for help.

I believe the scuds were launched at Israel AFTER the invasion of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia occurred. The Arab worlds were condemning Saddam and he launched at Israel to get them to back off because that would have meant that they were supporting them.

Hey Meck, would you rather the Obama send US troops back into Iraq or start dropping bombs rather than "kissing Iran's ass"?

I would rather see Israel duke it out with THEIR enemies. Do I need to post Bin Laden's declaration of war for you guys to jog your memories on why all this **** is going on? Meanwhile you guys are insulting one another, wasting your precious time when the root of the issue has always been Israel and the holy land.

Come one fellas. Wake up. Ask yourselves who is really pulling the strings on America entangling us in all this crap. It's not bush, it's not obama.

This is why drilling our own oil is paramount instead of stupidly sending money to other countries to do it. The Muslim world is all about power and killing. If there are no Christians or Jews to kill, they kill each other. Let them keep their oil and really have nothing else and watch them kill each other to see who has all the power in that region. This is also why putting Islam and Christianity in the same boat, as some try to do, is ridiculous. The Arab world couldn't care less about the Palestinians either. If Israel ceased to exist and there were no Jews in that region, the surrounding countries would be going in and slaughtering every Palestinian they could find for that land.

This is why drilling our own oil is paramount instead of stupidly sending money to other countries to do it..

Absolutely! Connoco is pulling permits to start drilling in Eastern Aurora Colorado as we speak. Yes I said Aurora Colorado. What was once considered the ghetto is one of the fastest hottest real estate markets in the metro area. If those wells start producing look out. We are talking full blown growth insanity.

If they hit it that means jobs, taxes, one less terrorist getting rich, less Americans getting killed for holy oil land bull shiat.

The issue with drilling at home. Nobody wants it in their back yard! It's not a perfect world.

This is why drilling our own oil is paramount instead of stupidly sending money to other countries to do it. The Muslim world is all about power and killing. If there are no Christians or Jews to kill, they kill each other. Let them keep their oil and really have nothing else and watch them kill each other to see who has all the power in that region. This is also why putting Islam and Christianity in the same boat, as some try to do, is ridiculous. The Arab world couldn't care less about the Palestinians either. If Israel ceased to exist and there were no Jews in that region, the surrounding countries would be going in and slaughtering every Palestinian they could find for that land.

Hate to break the news to you but even if we opened all land we still don't have enough oil to meet our needs. Which means we'll still have to send money over seas.

You want to stop sending money over there then we need to get rid of/dramatically lower our need for oil, such as renewable energy sources.

Drilling for more oil is like a crackhead saying he's going to quit spending money on crack by finding more drug dealers to buy crack from.

This is why drilling our own oil is paramount instead of stupidly sending money to other countries to do it. The Muslim world is all about power and killing. If there are no Christians or Jews to kill, they kill each other. Let them keep their oil and really have nothing else and watch them kill each other to see who has all the power in that region. This is also why putting Islam and Christianity in the same boat, as some try to do, is ridiculous. The Arab world couldn't care less about the Palestinians either. If Israel ceased to exist and there were no Jews in that region, the surrounding countries would be going in and slaughtering every Palestinian they could find for that land.

We don't get that much oil from the mideast but it's still important to the words oil prices. Why can't people understand that a US President can't let that region fall into chaos? Sad because Obama is doing just that.

Biden failed miserably when Obummer sent him to Iraq to negotiate an agreement to leave troops. He just gave up and was like they want to try us soldiers in Iraqi courts so we are out of here.

They would have caved if Biden and Obama had tried harder. But the fact is Obama wanted to get out because he is too stupid to understand what would happen.

Now we have to cozy up to Iran just to maintain security in Iraq? **** what a cluster****. Iran will have the bomb soon and it will be 150% Obamas fault.

Hate to break the news to you but even if we opened all land we still don't have enough oil to meet our needs. Which means we'll still have to send money over seas.

You want to stop sending money over there then we need to get rid of/dramatically lower our need for oil, such as renewable energy sources.

Drilling for more oil is like a crackhead saying he's going to quit spending money on crack by finding more drug dealers to buy crack from.

Sorry to break this news to you, but these bozo green technology has gotten nothing accomplished in 20 years except government bailouts and wasted money. Until anything changes there, which I doubt, then oil is the need. We can suppose drilling for our own oil won't meet needs, but that's no excuse to not try, while other countries are doing it, which noticeably, is without a peep of criticism from those who are against the U.S. doing more. I wonder why that is.

Obama and his lead from behind mantra is a huge failure. What did we say when Obama failed to get an agreement to leave troops in Iraq? We said great wait for a few years and we will have to go back to Iraq and fight again.

Obama has had a string of failures that make Bush look like friggin Abe Lincoln.